English roses: TOP 10 best varieties, planting, care and cultivation

Purity of petal color, beautiful shapes, rich aroma and increased vitality in different climatic zones - these are the criteria that all English roses of Austin selection meet. It was they who were guided by their creator, the British David Austin, when he wanted to remind the world about the undeservedly forgotten ancient rose bushes, and also to achieve continuous flowering.

Austin's creations have no official classification, but numerous varieties can be divided into several groups according to different characteristics. After all, when decorating personal plots, the type or height of the bushes is important for some, and the size of the flowers for others. And some gardeners just want to have some of the most beautiful roses in their garden.

Selection and description of English roses

The culture was bred by English farmer David Austin. In the 50s of the 20th century, while in France, he saw ancient roses. David's dream was to improve them. As a result of breeding work, he received a group of tall roses with large, fragrant buds. A distinctive feature of the ostina is the shape of the flower. Each variety has a unique floral aroma. D. Austin roses have the following characteristic features:

bush height – from 1 to 3 meters;
flowering - long, repeated;
bud shape – cup-shaped, rosette, pompom;
flowers are collected in inflorescences;
The buds are large and fragrant.

English roses have good immunity and are rarely susceptible to disease or pest attacks.

Note! Austinkas have a strong aroma, most pronounced in the morning and evening. The most fragrant English rose is Jude The Obscure.

Difficulties encountered during cultivation

Gardeners sometimes encounter some problems when growing English roses. The main difficulties are as follows:

The bushes are falling apart. Large flowers form on young shoots, causing the branches to droop. To prevent this, support is installed around the bushes.
Culture is not blooming. One of the main reasons is that the bushes are overfed with nitrogen. Plants need this substance only in early spring. Then phosphorus and potassium are used.
The roses were exposed to fungal diseases. A possible reason is that the bushes are planted too close to each other. Between them there is stagnation of moisture and air. Plants can also become sick if watered frequently.
In spring, the crop has a depressed appearance. This may happen due to the fact that the bushes were covered with polyethylene. It does not allow air to pass through, and this can lead to the death of plants.
Re-blooming does not occur. Buds that begin to dry out along with part of the shoot must be removed. Otherwise, the sleeping lateral buds will not be able to wake up.

Growing English roses is not difficult. By correctly performing agrotechnical measures, the gardener will admire beautiful, fragrant flowers all season long.

The most beautiful varieties and varieties

Experts have bred many varieties of English roses. Selection work was continued by the son and grandson of David Austin. The best varieties of roses are as follows.

James L. Austin

Austin, bred in 2022, is named after the breeder’s son. The bushes grow vertically. The shoots are covered with a large number of large purple-pink flowers. A fruity aroma emanates from the bushes. The rose is resistant to most diseases.

Vanessa Bell

The variety is named after the famous British artist. The height of the bushes is about 120 centimeters. The rose spreads up to 75 centimeters in width. 3-5 buds are formed on the stem. They are painted a soft lemon color. The buds bloom all season almost without interruption. The aroma of lemon, honey, and green tea emanates from the bushes.

The Mayflower

Rose was bred in 2001. The height and width of the bushes is about 1 meter. It blooms almost non-stop from May until the first frost. The buds are colored pink. In spring the foliage is light green, becoming dark and matte in autumn. The flowers smell like rose oil.

Golden Celebration

Shoots of Golden Celebration reach a height of 1.5 meters. Under the weight of the flowers they droop slightly towards the ground. The color of the buds varies from pale yellow to peach. Flowers open in early summer. Then, after a short break, repeated waves of flowering occur.

Lady of Shalott

This is one of the hardy, frost-resistant varieties. The bushes reach a height of 120 centimeters. The shoots droop slightly. The flowers are cup-shaped, densely double. The center of the bud is salmon pink. The edges of the petals are golden-orange. Ostinka exudes the aroma of apples and cloves.

Dame Judi Dench

The vigorously growing shoots of the crop reach a height of 1.2 meters. The width of the bushes is 90 centimeters. The buds are apricot-colored. They exude a cucumber aroma. Flowers form throughout the season. The plant's resistance to disease is excellent.

William Shakespeare

Considered the best English red rose. The bush is erect. The shoots are covered with purple flowers. At the opening stage, the buds are cup-shaped. When opened they become flat. In 2000, an improved variety, William Shakespeare 2000, was developed. It is more resistant to various diseases.

Graham Thomas

The shoots are long, arched. They reach a height of 1.5-3 meters. The buds are cup-shaped, terry. Number of petals – up to 75 pieces. Color varies from peach to orange. If exposed to bright sunlight, the petals may fade. The buds grow profusely in early summer. After the first wave, moderate flowering occurs until frost.

Abraham Derby

The height of the bushes is 100-150 centimeters. The higher the shoots, the more they droop under the weight of the inflorescences. The aroma is fruity, with a strawberry note. The buds are cup-shaped, copper-apricot color. Under the influence of the hot rays of the sun they turn soft pink. Flowers are arranged singly or in racemes of up to 3 pieces.

Benjamin Britten

The variety is named after the English composer and conductor. Grows up to 110 centimeters. The flowers are densely double, crimson in color. The bushes give off a fruity aroma with notes of pears. English rose can be used as a container plant.

Advantages and disadvantages

The main advantages of English roses are:

presence of a strong aroma;
high winter hardiness of the plant in Russian conditions;
formation of flowers along the entire stem;
an unusual flower shape that differs from other types of roses.

But these roses also have disadvantages:

poor resistance to precipitation;
under the weight of flowers, young shoots often droop;
many dark-colored plants are prone to black spotting.

How to plant on the site

Plant the crop in a well-lit area. In cold regions, the procedure is carried out in the spring. Roses have time to adapt before the onset of frost. In hot areas, ostinki can be planted in September. Autumn planting has the advantage that the gardener can see the flowers growing on the purchased bush.

The distance between the bushes depends on the variety of roses. The holes are dug 50x50 centimeters in size. They are filled with nutrient substrate. A day before planting, the seedling is placed in a root-forming mixture.

Bouquets

A bouquet is a whole collection of flower stories that convey thousands of unique impressions, and the ribbon covering them seems to connect the individual threads of the story into a single plot. The plot, the script of which was written especially for you! That is why a bouquet of English roses is often given to a beloved girl or bride. Sometimes one glance is enough to convince you that such bouquets can impress absolutely everyone!

Don’t believe that English roses are so beautiful that they can melt the heart of any girl? We will prove it to you! Just enter the phrase English roses video in any search engine, and make sure that these are truly beautiful flowers! There are hundreds of videos on the Internet on how to grow these beautiful flowers. An intoxicating aroma, a variety of shades, lush flowers and spreading forms of bushes - these are only the first impressions that appear when looking at this miracle!

Also read: How to grow Dracaena sandera at home?

David Austin variety

Caring for English roses

Caring for the crop consists of timely watering, periodic fertilizing, and loosening the soil. Faded buds and part of the stem are cut off. To prevent the appearance of diseases and pests, bushes are treated with special preparations.

Watering mode

The land around the bushes is irrigated abundantly, but not often. The top layer of soil should have time to dry out. If there is excess moisture, the leaves may become susceptible to fungal diseases. Depending on the size, a plant requires 5-15 liters of water.

Fertilizing bushes

They begin to feed English roses the next year after planting. Nitrogen applied in early spring promotes rapid growth of bushes. During the budding period, a phosphorus-potassium mixture is used. After flowering, potassium is used.

Loosening the soil

After watering, the soil around English roses is loosened. The procedure helps air and moisture penetrate to the root system. When loosening, weeds growing around the bushes are removed. They interfere with plant development and can be carriers of pests and pathogenic microorganisms.

Trimming and shaping

Pruning roses in spring. If the gardener wants to grow small bushes, he must remove the shoots by half. If tall plants are needed, cutting is carried out to a third of the length of the stems. Climbing varieties of ostina require pruning of ⅕ of the branches.

Important! Work on the formation of bushes is carried out with a sharp, disinfected instrument.

Preventive and therapeutic treatments

To prevent the appearance of diseases and pests, the bushes are treated with special preparations. Fungicides are used for fungal diseases. Insecticides are used to prevent and rid roses of insects. Preventing the occurrence of misfortunes is facilitated by removing plant debris from the tree trunks of plants.

Preparing for winter

In warm areas, it is enough to sprinkle the ground around the plants with a layer of mulch in late autumn. In cold regions, a frame is installed above the bushes, which is covered with non-woven material. The procedure is carried out after the temperature has remained at -5 °C for several days. If you carry out moisture-recharging irrigation in mid-autumn, the saplings will withstand frosts better.

The origins of the symbol of England

In Great Britain, for many years, two families belonging to the royal dynasty – the Yorks and the Lancasters – fought for the right to rule the country.
The symbol of the house of the first kind was a snow-white rose, and the symbol of the second was a scarlet one. Interestingly, the white flower was a much older symbol than the red one. The scarlet rose of Lancaster appeared only during the period of confrontation between this family and the Yorks - precisely as a kind of antipode of the white flower, an emphasized opposition to it. In 1455, the long-term feud between the families finally turned into a war that lasted 30 years. The result of all the bloody battles was the Lancastrian victory. Henry VII received the crown and became the founder of the Tudor dynasty. He turned a white rose bordered with red petals into a symbol of England - the scarlet color thus became the dominant color in the emblem. Two years after the end of the war, in 1487, the Yorks tried to regain their crown, but they failed to win, and the Earl of Lincoln, who became the instigator, was killed.

The combination of red and white roses in the emblem should be given special attention. Two years before the end of the war, Henry VII, in return for support from Parliament, swore an oath that if the Lancasters managed to defeat the Yorks, he would marry one of the heirs of the house at war with him - Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV. He kept his promise, and his marriage to a woman from the House of York became a symbol of the unification of two families that had previously been at odds for many years.

Reproduction

English roses are easily propagated by cuttings or layering.

By cuttings

To propagate the crop using this method, cuttings 20 centimeters long are cut. The lower leaves are cut off, the upper leaves are left. The shoots are planted in the ground at a distance of 15 centimeters and covered with a jar. In late autumn, the bed is covered with agrofibre. The bushes are planted in a permanent place after a year.

By layering

Climbing roses are propagated using this method. An incision is made on the shoots and placed in pre-dug grooves. They are secured with staples, watered, and covered with earth. Layers need to be looked after: irrigate and loosen the soil, remove weeds. The transplant is carried out after a year.

Technology for covering roses for the winter

Park rose, which is frost-resistant, was not used to breed English varieties. All heat-loving species are grafted onto rosehip rootstock, but they need shelter during cold weather.

If you rush and cover the roses too early, they may dry out. You need to make a shelter in dry weather. It is advisable that there is no rain a few days before.

Before sheltering, young shoots, leaves, flowers and buds are removed from the bushes. If shoots are pruned, all cuts are treated with garden varnish or Rannet. Then they bend the roses to the ground, attaching them with metal pins.

Prepared roses are covered with spruce branches or pine litter. Double spunbond is laid on top. Along the edges the material is pinned or pressed with stones.

Watch this video on YouTube

Growing roses

Austin roses will grow healthy and delight the gardener with their flowers if planted correctly. Austin roses should be planted in sunny areas (for roses of this type, four hours of sun per day is enough).

Landing

The soil should not be swampy or have a low groundwater level. Otherwise, due to excess moisture, the root system may begin to rot.

Preparation for planting includes three stages:

Preparation of seedlings. Before planting, seedlings should be disinfected and protected from possible diseases. To do this, the roots are soaked in a weak solution of potassium permanganate for half an hour. After this, in order to speed up the subsequent growth of the bushes, the root system is placed in the “Kornevin” solution for a day

Nutrient preparation. When a seedling just begins to grow, it requires a large amount of nutrients, so many agronomists recommend preparing a special mixture containing the necessary mineral fertilizers. To do this, the soil is combined with peat and compost, then mineral fertilizers are added (all components are mixed in equal proportions).
Preparing the pit. The hole for the rose bush should be relatively large. It breaks out half a meter deep and the same width. The distance between adjacent holes should be at least half a meter (if the bush is spreading - 1 m).

How to plant:

Roses are planted in the prepared recess.
In this case, the roots should be straightened, and when covered with soil, the seedling should be slightly shaken so that there are no empty spaces left near the roots. Otherwise, the roots may lack nutrients and fluid.
You need to cover the plant with the prepared mixture.
When the roses are already planted, they should be watered abundantly (at least five liters of water per seedling).

In another article we described: Incarvillea.

Special planting conditions are required for plants grown in cold climates, such as Siberia. In this case, you should pay attention to:

Landing location

If air temperatures are already low, you should not aggravate the situation by planting roses on the north side of the site. Flowers should be planted on a well-sunny south side.

On a personal plot with uneven terrain, it is better to plant plants on a hill. Elevated areas freeze less, which will protect the plant’s root system, firstly, from low temperatures, and, secondly, from damage by fungal diseases.

It is better to plant flowers near a fence to protect them from cold winds. If this is not possible, you can make a small fence yourself on the north side of the bushes (since the cold wind most often blows from there).

Soil selection

The soil should be loose and fertile. Before planting, the bottom of the hole should be lined with rotten mullein.

Boarding time

In cold climates, roses should be planted in the spring, from mid-May. By this time the earth should warm up to approximately ten degrees Celsius. In this case, the formation of bushes will have time to end by autumn, that is, by cold weather.

Using plants in landscape design

The Austin rose is a true all-rounder that can become the central object of the garden or modestly serve as the last, final detail in combination with other plants. With proper pruning and proper care, they quickly form dense, tall thickets, making them suitable for use as hedges.

With a more careful approach to the formation of bushes and restraining their growth, plants can be used both as borders and for decorative design of group plantings in collaboration with conifers or evergreen shrubs. Low-growing varieties can be used for container gardening or become an attractive detail in a classic flower garden.

The creator of these amazing flowers recommends using them in group plantings, mixing different varieties that may differ in aroma, in the structure and color of the buds, and in the height and structure of the bush.